Pic(k) of the Week: Blue sturgeon supermoon

A rare lunar convergence: August's full sturgeon moon was a blue moon AND a supermoon!

As seen over the Columbia Presbyterian Church, in the City of Decatur, Georgia, USA, on the evening of 19 August 2024 at 22:06 EDT.

☞ The name Sturgeon Moon comes from the giant lake sturgeon of the American Great Lakes; this native freshwater fish was readily caught during this part of summer and an important food staple for Native Americans who lived in the region. At one time the lake sturgeon was quite abundant in late summer, though they are rarer today.

☞ The super moon part refers to the moon's orbit, which brings it slightly closer to Earth this month, making it appear bigger and brighter. This occurs since the moon’s orbit around the Earth is elliptical instead of just a circle, and thus there are times when the moon is further and closer to our planet.

☞ A blue moon is not about the color of the moon, but instead the frequency of the full moon. There are two definitions of a blue moon—the first describes when there are two full moons in a single month. Since the moon’s cycle is 29.5 days, and our average calendar month is 30-31 days, this blue moon occurs every two to three years. There are also seasonal blue moons, in which a calendar season contains four full moons instead of the usual three, and the blue moon is the third of the four full moons. August’s full moon is of this variety. The next seasonal blue moon is expected in May 2027.

☞ The combination of the super moon and the blue moon is rare, and the time between their occurrences is quite 'irregular' and could be as much as 20 years, with 10 years between the average. Though we had a super blue moon somewhat recently, in August 2023, the next super blue moon will not occur until January 2037.

— Old Farmer's Almanac.
— Time Magazine.

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Pic(k) of the Week: Chapel at the Monastery of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit

The chapel is quiet, awaiting the entrance of Trappist monks for their sext * prayers at noon.

Monastery of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit: Rockdale County (Conyers), Georgia, USA. 3 February 2024.

The Monastery of the Holy Spirit was founded on March 21, 1944, by twenty Trappist monks from the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani in Kentucky, USA. The Archdiocese of Atlanta and silent film star Colleen Moore donated 1,400 acres (5.7 km2) of land on which the monks hand-built the monastery, a concrete structure complete with a retreat house, cloister, and chapel.

As of 2022, the monastery is home to a community of twenty-eight monks who are self-sustaining. A prior abbot (ecclesiastical leader) was Basil Pennington, a founder of the contemplative "centering prayer" movement. The primary work of the monks at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit is prayer.

The monastery and grounds are a part of the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area and also serves as the southernmost point on the Arabia Mountain Path.

— Wikipedia

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Pic(k) of the Week: Stille Nacht

Happy Christmas to all,
and to all a good night.

Decatur Presbyterian Church
downtown Decatur, Georgia, USA.
22 December 2023.

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Pic(k) of the Week: White Flags of Georgia's COVID-19 Devastation

White Flags of Georgia's COVID-19 Devastation is a memorial installation illustrating the devastating human and economic cost of the pandemic —and the urgency for local and federal elected officials to act now to meet the real need in our state. These white flags represent the more than 15,000 Georgians who have already lost their lives to COVID-19. Every person we have lost was loved and needed. Please join us to honor those who have died. And take action to urge elected officials to take bold action today. No one should have to plant a single flag more.

The installation was inspired by artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenburg and created by the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization that promotes lasting peace with justice, as a practical expression of faith in action.

— American Friends Service Committee.

First Christian Church of Decatur, City of Decatur, Georgia, USA. 28 February 2021.

The church displayed the flags for two weeks in February 2021. By the end of the month, Georgia's total COVID-19 death toll had risen from 15,000 to 17,376. Since the pandemic began a year ago in February 2020, 514,660 Americans have died nationwide; globally, more than 2.54 million human beings.

Placards displayed at memorial

• 3.9 million Georgians experienced loss of a job or reduced hours last year.
• Many Georgians face eviction and mortgage or rent failure due to pandemic-related economic deprivation.
• 1.7 million public school children [in Georgia] have had their futures disrupted.
• 60% of public school students in Georgia faced food insecurity even before the pandemic.
• In Georgia prisons: 5,011 COVID-19 cases; 92 deaths (including incarcerated people and prison staff).
• No Georgian should die because they don't have access to health care.

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